Author Archive for: ‘Jake Norton’

One makes interesting friends on the streets of. @pedromcbride and I spent some quality time with this and his keeper – a young charmer of about 15 years old. While I got uncomfortably close with my camera, I didn’t feel the snake and I made much of a bond @eddiebauer

Mr. V. Tangapandem always wanted to visit the sacred city of) along the banks of Ma, but it wasn’t until this year – at age 78 – that he finally made it. Most impressively, he got here by walking all 1,464 miles from his home near, Tamil Nadu. Quite impressive, and just more evidence of the reverence for and devotion to the mighty. Asked if he’s concerned for the health of the River: “Of course. She’s our Mother, she’s our god, but she needs help.” Does he want to die here in Varanasi, on the banks of the Ganga? “Of course! But, not now,” he says with a wide grin before giving me a deep Namaskar and shuffling on his way @eddiebauer @pedromcbride @microsoftusa

Originally from, she now lives at along the in. This is the place where the dead are cremated, where the dying come to breath their final breaths along the banks of Ma Ganga. For most, it would not be the choice for a home, but for her it was the best alternative to a life of strife and poverty in Bihar. It’s not much, but here she has a roof over her head and the generosity of many to keep her fed and clothed. As always, our journey down the Ganges makes me think deeply, and acknowledge just how fortunate I am, and how tough life is for so many @eddiebauer @pedromcbride

Along the banks of the River in – just a stone’s throw from the – is an equally stunning if less-refined place ghat is the place of the washers (Dhobis), and here, day in and day out, they ply their trade, hand washing masses of for visiting tourists and locals alike. The clothing is “washed” in the fetid waters of the Yamuna which, by the time they move through Agra, are but a tar-like sludge. As one Dhobi told me with a smile: “The is dirty, but we use caustic soap – it burns – but it gets clothes clean @indiaphotosociety @dailylifeindia @eddiebauer @pedromcbride

Rupa’s 44-year life has been anything but easy. That said, the we met living with camels and horses (and their keepers) under an overpass beside the River in central, was a kind and gentle giant.
Great to be back here with @pedromcbride telling the story of the mighty, and immersed in a place of extremes: beauty and squalor, reverence and abuse, wealth and poverty, purity and pollution. Amazing, trying, and absolutely wonderful @eddiebauer @madhav108a @india_gram

Just posted this massive from the South on Mount on my blog (link in my profile). On the blog, the pano is interactive, so you can zoom in, look at Everest, the Glacier, and more, and even see the climbing route up Everest’s Southeast Ridge if you look closely @gigapansystems
@eddiebauer

are not uncommon on the, and they have a long tradition emperors constructed diversions 500 years ago along the Ganges and, and the built the first on the Ganges at in 1854 (called) to feed the Upper Ganges Canal.
In this photo, fishermen ply their trade near the Ganges Barrage at. Further downstream, near the border with, the River’s most controversial barrage – was completed in 1974, and has been a major bone of contention between the two countries ever since.

The new government of Narendra has pledged to protect and restore Ma, but new barrage proposals call this pledge into question. Specifically, one proposal calls for building new barrages every 100km from to Ganga Sagar on the at the Bay of Bengal. While this might be an economic boon, allowing for consistent shipping along the majority of the great river, it would come at great cost, forever altering the flow of the river and putting greater pressure on the already critically endangered Ganges River (AKA the) and the, a critical commercial fish which spawns up river @dailylifeindia @davidcmorton @pedromcbride @eddiebauer